Dow Hits Record Close 6th Time in a Row

Stocks are closing mostly lower on Wall Street, but energy companies rose along with the price of crude oil, and the Dow Jones found its sixth consecutive record close, reports Marketwatch. Gains in Exxon Mobil and Chevron nudged the Dow Jones industrial average to another record Monday, reports the AP, but other indexes declined as media companies, banks, and technology stocks lost ground. Viacom plunged 9% after merger talks with CBS were called off by the controlling shareholder of both companies.

Crude oil jumped 3% after oil-producing countries outside of OPEC agreed to reduce output. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,256. The S&P 500 is coming off its sixth straight gain. The Dow climbed 39 points, or 0.2%, to 19,796. The Nasdaq composite lost 31 points, or 0.6%, to 5,412. (More stock market stories.)